THE PALMER DIGGINGS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 272, 22 May 1874, Page 3

THE PALMER DIGGINGS.

A miner, recently arriverl at Naseby from the Palmer Diggings, communicates the following:— "Left the West Coast about the end of November last for Sydney,'where I arrived on Christmas Pay. On the Ist January I sailed for Cooktown, which place I reached in four days—my passage money being £3 10s. Cooktown is a town only in name—the stores," shanties,'and tents being of a most -primitive description. The entire resident population, I estimate, would be about 100. The situation of the town is alongside a river navigable to a certain extent. r I purchased a pack-horse for &LB, aud loaded it with provisions, flour, &c, paying for these articles but a moderate price. I then started for the Palmer, the journey occu-. ■ pying seventeen days, and s the-distance I estimate to be about 200 miles. During my journey I, crossed several ■ shinglebeds, which are evidently rivers during floods from the.amount of driftwood lying about. Crossed easily, with our watertight. A "large quantity of water flows down through the shingle. " The nature of the country traversed is sandy on the flats, and rolling hills with patches ,of timber here and there. There are no hills to speak of, and a road could easily be constructed to , the diggings. The diggings are situated at the junction of the Endeavor and Palmer Eivers, and another river, the name of which'l'forget. I heard of as much as one pound weight of gold per day being got. I remained here about twelve days, during which time sunk several holes, one on a creek running into (he Endeavor or Palmer. It was about" three feet deep, and 12 x 10—from which was taken,4£ ounces of sliotty'gold. The dirt had.~to be carried some'distance to the-river, i Finding the prospects run out tried farther- up same gully-j' but got the color only. The heat was f intense, and I. became very ill. My mate "by this time ,was bedfast, and anxious to get away. We then left, and retraced our steps to Cooktown. My mate at present is an inmate of the Brisbane hospital. ■• No medical men were on the field. - I afterwards came to Otago. ] " My opinion of the'Palirier-E-iver Diggings is a favorable one, 'and ,1 believe' it will be a rich Grbldfield-'but. I am acquainted with a number of diggers—mostly new chums—who never were so fortunate as to get even a spec. The climate, during.the time I was there, is unfit lor Europeans.' The heat during' the day is something unbearable, and at night the fog is so- dense and moist that large drops adhere' far the clothes'—the consequences are that diarrhoaa, fever, and ague are very prevalent. T think the healthiest time to be there is from July to January, as the rainy season sets in abou,t March, and continues generally four, months. There is no meat'ph the diggings, and the miners subsist-principally on flour and jam. Fish, resembling mackerel, are caught in .the'river. ' Would return .again to the Paliner if funds would permit; and believe I-"would-do well. Very little prospecting has been done. During my stay a carrier was rushed, and the provisions taken from him, but their value was afterwards paid for in gold. The diggings are pretty orderly, in the absence of either police or Commissioner. My pick, shovel, and tomahawk I sold for J§s 6s. Flour is 3s. per pound; meat there is none. There is up, feed for horses.."